Rock Bottom

“Girl, let me get off the phone. I am about to give someone a ride” Tee said.

“Tee, are sure you want to drive for money? That sounds dangerous. There has to be another way for you to earn money.” I said.

“What do you want me to do? I lost my job. My unemployment ran out. My husband won’t give me money. I don’t have a choice.” I could tell Tee was getting emotional so I figured I would let it go.

“Be safe.” I said. It was the only thing I could say.

Tee had it all. Husband. Kids. Career.

I guess everyone goes through their ups and downs and Tee has definitely hit rock bottom. First she lost her job then her husband right after. He has the nerve to be angry with her for filing divorce and he’s the one that cheated over and over again. When it rains it pours because she hasn’t been able to land on her feet and it has been at least four months. I know she will get it together but it is a matter of when. I understand she has to hustle for her children but driving can be dangerous for women so I worry about her, especially since she is gorgeous.

“Hey, are you Tee?” he asked. “I’m Roger, I ordered the ride”.

“Yes” Tee said, suddenly thinking that driving wasn’t so bad after all. “Roger is handsome” she thought to herself.

“Do you mind if I put my bags in your trunk? I have a sensitive nose and there is a ton of food stored in my bags.” Roger said.

Tee thought this was weird but she popped the trunk in the name of customer service. Roger hopped in the backseat of her Durango.

“You ride big body?” he joked. “I love a woman that can push a truck.”

“I know how to ride” Tee said, jokingly. “Where are you from?”

“I was born in Baltimore but raised in Atlanta. I came down here for college and now I am an entrepreneur. What about you? What’s a pretty lady like you doing driving for money?” he asked.

“Well, I have been married for seven years and I am going through a divorce. I need the money to make ends meet.” Tee said. “I heard the money isn’t that bad.”

“Your husband won’t help you?” he asked.

“No, he’s mad I filed for divorce so he refuses to do anything for me or our two children. I am on my own.” She said.

“What did you do before driving?” he asked.

“Senior Director for a Fortune 500 company. Don’t be fooled, I was making bank but life has a way of humbling you so I figure God is having his way with me. I’ve been on so many interviews, networked my butt off, reached out to old employers and even applied to roles that paid less only to be told that I am overqualified. At this point, I am just trying to keep my sanity.” Tee said.

“Dang girl, I’m sorry you have to go through all of that. How about this? Can we make a couple of stops? The more stops you make, the bigger your tip. If you turn the app off, I’ll pay you for each stop and you can keep the money.” Roger said.

“Um, ok. Why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?” she asked.

Roger looked at Tee with his green eyes, shrugged his shoulders and said “Convenience. I am a very busy man so if you help me run around, I’ll pay you. Can you cash a check while I hop on this conference call?” he asked. “I’ll pay you $100 for your troubles and I would really appreciate it.”

“What do you do again?” Tee asked suspiciously.

“I have my own music business. I produce for the biggest artists in the game.” He said.

“Well if you have all this money, how come you don’t have a personal assistant and a driver?” she asked.

“My personal assistant just moved out of state. Who knows, maybe after today, you can be my personal assistant.” He said, charming as can be. “Here’s my license, hand it to them, just in case they ask for the name on the account. Tell them you don’t want to deposit, you need cash.”

Tee looked at the check. “So they are just going to hand me $50,000 in cash?”
“Welcome to the big leagues” he said. “That’s a drop in the bucket for the type of money we move.” He picked up his cell and began talking, handed her his business card and told her to call him if she had any trouble.

Tee went in the bank with a million thoughts in her head. “What if this is a scam?” she thought.

Tee prayed fearlessly, day in and day out for a miracle, some sort of positive intervention to her bad luck. All Tee wanted was some sort of buoyancy to the gravity of her situation that was holding her down. “What if this is destiny and God really did send him my way and I really do become his personal assistant?” she thought. “I’m a Christian, God wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me.”

“How can I help you?” the bank teller asked.

“I need to cash this check for my boss, Roger Ingram.” Tee said.

“I will be more than happy to help you today.”

The next thing you know, Tee had $50,000 in her hand, cold hard cash. No questions asked. She was in and out the bank in five minutes.

“Everything cool?” Roger asked.

“Yea, I’ll admit, I was a little nervous but you are legit because there is no way they would have let me out the bank with this type of money if you weren’t.” she said.

Roger took a hundred dollar bill out the stack and handed it to her. “Did you turn your app off?” he asked. “I want to make sure all the coins you earn today go to you, not some corporation.”

Tee turned the app off, took the hundred, and placed it in her wallet.

“Where off to next? She asked, excited that God would send such a blessing her way.

“I gotta drop this food off to my aunt’s for my mom. You mind?” he asked.
“No, not at all.” She said.

“I will only be a minute” Roger told her.

Tee drove him to Decatur to drop off the bags in the trunk. They drove up to a huge house in a gated subdivision. As she waited outside for Roger to return, Tee thought about the money she used to make. She never thought she would be going through a divorce, unemployed, struggling to make ends meet driving her truck for cash. “God didn’t bring me this far to let me down” she thought. She replayed her day in her head because it almost seemed too good to be true.

“That was quick” Tee said.

“I told you, in and out. I have to catch a plane. Drop me off at the airport, on the Delta side.” He asked. “You have my business card, hit me Monday. I come back Sunday night. Here is $400 for your troubles today, I really appreciate you looking out.”

Tee was excited. She hadn’t see $500 in a long time. It felt good to earn an honest living again.

Tee dropped Roger off and headed back to her side of town. As soon as she approached I-20 W, there had to be at least ten cop cars and a helicopter chasing her. “Shit” she thought, not knowing how much trouble she was really about to be in.